Addiction experts led by a University of Virginia Health System team report the results of a clinical trial whereby an effective therapeutic medication, topiramate, not only decreases heavy drinking but also diminishes the physical and psychosocial harm caused by alcohol dependence.

Self-reported alcohol-impaired (AI) driving has increased in the United States during the last decade. New findings show that most AI driving is due to binge drinkers rather than heavy or alcohol-dependent drinkers.

Children and adolescents at high risk for developing a substance-use disorder (SUD) tend to show deficits in executive cognitive function (ECF). A study using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to assess eye movements in adolescents has found a link between brain functioning and risk for developing an SUD.

Although children of alcoholics (COAs) have a greater risk of developing alcohol-use disorders (AUDs), not all COAs will develop AUDs. This study used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to examine brain responses to emotional stimuli in adolescent COAs considered “vulnerable” or “resilient” to AUDs.

Doctors may one day be able to control alcohol addiction by manipulating the molecular events in the brain that underlie anxiety associated with alcohol withdrawal, researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Medicine and the Jesse Brown VA Medical Center report.

Provided they stick to the same guidelines about alcohol consumption as younger adults, regular moderate drinking poses no additional risks to the over 65s, and may even bring health benefits.

Why do mental illness and drug addiction so often go together" New research reveals that this type of dual diagnosis may stem from a common cause: developmental changes in the amygdala, a walnut-shaped part of the brain linked to fear, anxiety and other emotions.

Mexican Americans make up 66 percent of the U.S. Hispanic population and, when compared to other ethnic groups, show high rates of heavy drinking and alcohol-related problems. Research that examines haplotypes of the CYP2E1 gene among a Mexican-American population has found that carrying haplotype H6 may enhance susceptibility to developing alcoholism.

Policy makers, employers and others can use the science of behavioral economics to steer people toward wiser choices — and dramatically improve their health — without limiting their freedom to do as they please, according to an article published in the Nov. 28 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).

What do suffering a traumatic brain injury and using club drugs have in common" University of Florida researchers say both may trigger a similar chemical chain reaction in the brain, leading to cell death, memory loss and potentially irreversible brain damage.